The Giants’ summer of NY-IG, where the team is winning the offseason on Instagram, culminated in some California workouts last week.
Russell Wilson‘s get together with the Giants’ other quarterbacks and skill players looked familiar because it was.
This is what Daniel Jones used to do annually with his teammates, minus Wilson’s out-of-place Giants helmet and shoulder pads while throwing to teammates in shorts and T-shirts.
That’s because chemistry is important. It matters for Wilson to get on the same page with his receivers, running backs and tight ends, given that he just signed here in March to join his fourth team in five years.
The Giants have to be humming in Week 1 right out of the gate — or else.
What stands out most when this Giants offense works out and takes pictures together, however, is how similar they look to last year’s 31st-ranked offense.
The only real difference is that it’s Wilson at quarterback, not Jones.
If offensive coordinator Mike Kafka calls plays, that would be a key change from last season, when Brian Daboll was on the headset. And running back Tyrone Tracy Jr.’s move ahead of Devin Singletary as the projected Week 1 starter is a shift from 2024.
But the offensive line’s starting five looks like it could be the exact same: Andrew Thomas, Jon Runyan Jr., John Michael Schmitz, Greg Van Roten and Jermaine Eluemunor, left to right.
Theo Johnson, Chris Manhertz and Daniel Bellinger are still playing tight end. Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt still offer the most hope at wide receiver.
Even if Nabers is an ascending talent, this plan represents a stunning level of stubbornness from Giants GM Joe Schoen and Daboll on the personnel side.
They needed to upgrade from Jones, of course. But with the roster they’ve assembled, they are saying that Jones was last year’s problem and that a new quarterback will show everyone the real truth about the talent they drafted and accrued to score 16.1 points per game last year.
This is fascinating because Schoen and Daboll were the ones who re-signed Jones to that four-year, $160 million extension after his 379 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in that Jan. 2023 Wild Card win in Minnesota.
Now they’re in the business of trying to prove he was the reason the offense didn’t take another step.
This plan probably wouldn’t feel so audacious and risky if Schoen had convinced Matthew Stafford to accept a trade to the East Coast.
Not that Stafford would have fixed everything, but it would have been easier to sell that the Rams’ star quarterback could have been the rising tide to lift all boats.
Wilson as the Giants’ Week 1 starter, on the other hand, invites at least as many questions as it does potential answers.
Like why Jameis Winston is not being given a chance to compete for the starting job. And how quickly first-round pick Jaxson Dart will see game action.
The minimal changes to this Giants offense stick out especially in contrast to the work Schoen did this offseason on the defense once he swung and missed on Stafford.
Paulson Adebo, Abdul Carter, Jevon Holland and Chauncey Golston are all significant financial investments for players who are expected to log significant snaps.
Because of this imbalance of investments, the defense will receive more attention and public pressure to improve and maybe even carry the team at times.
Co-owner John Mara, after all, lamented the defense of all things after last season’s 3-14 finish. So the added assets will bring increased internal expectations, too.
But don’t lose sight of the statement Schoen and Daboll are trying to make with an offense that is practically a mirror image of last year’s lackluster group:
Jones, the quarterback, was the problem. Now that he’s gone, they’ll be fine.
They’ll score in Week 1 with the Washington Commanders, who averaged 28.5 points per game last year. And Wilson will be the reason why.
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